“In conversation about Greek debt relief with Antonis Samaras, Greece’s then prime minister, Angela Merkel remarked: ‘It doesn’t sound so good in German’. Why not? Because schuld, the German word for ‘debt’, also means ‘guilt’! Until Germans revisit their history and realise how special their own circumstances have been, they will never understand why fiscal expansion by them (plus a one-off rise in wages) is now required; and why without this the Greeks can never repay their debts.”

“Why the anchor dragging down the European economy isn’t Athens — it’s Berlin.

[…] The ‘growth’ Germany generates by funding unsustainable trade imbalances — inside and outside the eurozone — is an illusion. It is growth that is borrowed, for only a while. For Germany, and for the world, it’s a bad trade.”

“For [economist James K.] Galbraith, the lack of coordination on the European side was shocking. […] He dismisses the idea that the Greek position is confusing. ‘I think the Europeans want to pretend to be confused, but the confusion exists in their minds, not in the Greek position.’”

“Had the Varoufakis plan been put forward by an investment banker, it would have been perceived as perfectly reasonable. Yet in the parallel universe inhabited by Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, such demands are seen as ‘irresponsible’: Greece must be bled dry to service its foreign creditors in the name of European solidarity.”